If...then...but...

I love that we have a built in babysitter. I love that 99% of the time she doesn't mind doing it. But, on occasion, she does moan and groan a little. Usually because where we are going, she wants to go too. One such occasion was our anniversary, and we were going to see Kurt Bestor in concert. (The blow was lightened because Grandma and Grandpa were in town). You see McKenzie enjoys that kind of music, and loves anyone with the talent to play the piano so well. She would love the opportunity to go see and hear that type of concert. So, when C and I had the chance to go to Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert for C's birthday I knew that I would hear the "oh man, I want to go!" So, I plotted, and planned, and decided.. IF she would babysit for us THEN I would take her to see Jon Schmidt play. She LOVES Jon Schmidt. She is studying his technique to learning to play the piano at her piano lessons. She has his CD's on her ipod. She is a fan! BUT,because I was plotting and planning to take her out of school to see him, she had to make sure she kept her grades up. So... C and I went and enjoyed Kurt Bestor, Kenz tended not only her brother and sister but her little cousin as well that night, and kept her grades where they needed to be, and not only got the see Jon Schmidt perform, but meet him, talk to him, have him sign her music book, and get her picture taken with him as well.

Sledding

Another reason I love where we live besides the great neighbors and friends is all the open spaces, and the great parks that we have around and their wonderful sledding hills. Without fail if there is snow, there is usually someone ready to go out sledding. My kids love it. They love getting dressed up in their snow clothes or "babes" (bibs) as Cutter says. This year we made sure we were ready for the season, with newly purchased sleds, and new boots that fit a growing boy. So the adventures have begun, and continue (although we really need some more snow!) with opportunities galore.

Off Track

Thanks to my good friend K and her great field trip adventures with her kids and preschoolers, when my kids and the cousins went off track in October, we decided to go and try out these places. My SIL and I took the kids to Gardener Village first. They have a great display of witches all over the property. We went on a witch hunt to find all the witches, and then headed to the bakery for a treat for our efforts, and lunch. The kids got into finding those crazy wild witches. Our next trip was to the Sweets candy factory. We were able to take a tour of the facility, and see how the candy was made. It was very interesting and fun. It reminded me of the movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I kept looking around for the Ompa Lompas, but none were to be found. The best part of course was the trip into the candy store at the end. Dark Chocolate Raspberry sticks...delic !

Disneyland!

This past October we had the most awesome experience. C's entire family, including us got to go to Disneyland. It has become a tradition that over UEA we all go to St George. But, this year the family decided it would be fun to go farther with a destination of Disneyland. It was our kids first time there and it was so much fun to watch them, and see the joy, surprise, anticipation etc. on their faces. We caravaned down and back, stayed in a hotel on the same block as Disneyland, and spent every minute we could enjoying the magic. Being October the place was all decked out for Halloween. All the characters were in Halloween Costumes, they had an outrageous fireworks show, and we got to attend a special Trick or Treat night at Disneyland California Adventure. At 6:30 they closed the park and only those of us with a special ticket were able to enter the park. The kids got to wear their Halloween Costumes, and they has special trick or treat stops all throughout the park, and all the rides were open, with hardly any lines. The little girls got to be a part of the Trick or Treat on the Street parade, and danced their little hearts out. It was such a great trip, we enjoyed every minute of it, and we stayed and played to the very end. Here are just a few highlights:

"Abort, abort! DO NOT exit the vehicles, repeat, DO NOT exit the vehicles" the phrase said over the walkie talkies between the cars as we were trying to find a park to eat lunch. We were right in the center of Drugville USA. Thanks to the GPS system.

"That totally freak-ed me out!" Said by Cutter after riding Big Thunder Mountain.

"The Nightmare before Christmas" themed Haunted Mansion

Getting into Pin trading

Getting Grandma to ride the Matterhorn

Space Mountain haunted!

Getting to meet all the characters and Princesses

Kenzie and Cass both riding Tower of Terror aka by Cass as the "Elevator of Enchantment"

The kids being part of two parades

Cutter getting to ride the train

spending time with family

A huge Thank you to all those that made this trip possible for us! We love you!!!!!